2023 SPEEDO SOUTHERN PREMIER
- March 3-6, 2023
- Centennial Sportsplex, Nashville, TN
- SCY (25 yards)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results (MeetMobile)/Web results (for some races)
After a pair of 17-year-olds warmed up the pool with 3:41s in the 400 yard IM (read more about those swims here), the rest of the races carried the torch on Friday at the 2023 Speedo Southern Premier meet in Nashville.
That included a 1:33.36 from Junior National Teamer Maximus Williamson in the 200 yard free, winning by almost four seconds ahead of Johnny Crush (1:37.08) and just three-tenths shy of his own National Age Group Record in the event.
Only he and Drew Kibler (1:33.30) have been faster in the race in the 15-16 age group.
Williamson took his personal best swim and NAG Record of 1:33.07 out in 45.05, and was out even faster on Friday evening (44.49). He couldn’t hold up to that pace, though, and faded in the final 50 – which was about a second slower than in his personal record race.
Race Video, Courtesy Ty Uio:
Later in the session, he won the 200 backstroke in 1:43.99. That’s about three seconds shy of his best from December.
Williamson was part of a storm brought to the meet on day 1 from North Texas swimmers. His teammate both at Lakeside and the Junior National Team Cooper Lucas won the 100 breaststroke in 54.22. That just out-touched the 54.25 from Will Scholtz of Kentucky’s Lakeside team.
Lucas, a Texas commit (2024) and recent Texas high school state champion in the 200 and 500 free, took a second-and-a-half off his best time in what is not a primary event for him. Scholtz, who is headed to Texas a year ahead of Lucas, has been as fast as 53.6.
Lucas also was part of that 3:41-barrage in the 400 IM earlier in the session.
That was one of a few really-close races on Friday. In the 200 free relay, Dynamo swam 1:20.80 to just out-touch Lakeside (Kentucky) in 1:20.88. Dynamo was led by a 19.91 from Leo Roden. Lakeside was anchored by Johnny Crush in his first of three swims on the evening with a 19.61.
The girls’ races were all a little more lopsided, with each won by at least a second. That included a 1:00.87 swim from Dynamo 17-year-old Evelyn Entrekin, beating out her teammate Alexis Dalton (1:02.64).
Entrekin will join a good University of Houston breaststroke group that this season had a 59.96 (Henrietta Fangli) and 1:00.71 (Flo Peter), who are a sophomore and a freshman, respectively.
The most anticipated swim of the night was the girls’ 200 back. After 14-year-old Lakeside (Kentucky) swimmer Charlotte Crush broke a legendary Missy Franklin National Age Group Record in prelims, she added about a second to go 1:52.01 in finals. Still, even with that added time, only two other swimmers have been faster at that age, and both are World Record breakers in the 200 back in long course (Franklin and Regan Smith).
Her teammate Haley McDonald followed her in 2nd to a personal best of 1:54.78 – more than a second better than her best time and almost four seconds better than the time she posted for 8th at the 2022 Winter Junior Championships – East meet. She’s only a high school sophomore, so she and Crush have a few years of training together still before heading to college.
Earlier in the day, McDonald won the 200 free in 1:46.47, with Crush 2nd in 1:47.58. Those were big best times for both swimmers – across the day, McDonald dropped 2.4 seconds and Crush dropped 2.3 seconds.
Other Day 1 Winners & Notables:
- The Lakeside (Kentucky) girls won the 200 free relay in 1:31.85, running away from runners-up Dynamo. Crush led that relay off in 22.36 (her PB from this meet last year ranks her 3rd all-time in the age group) and was joined by McDonald (22.92), Georgia Kahler (23.36), and Caroline Wilson (23.21).
- 13-year-old Lakeside swimmer Wilson York won the 13-14 boys’ 100 breaststroke in 57.52. He was actually a couple-of-tenths better than that in January.
- Lakeside (Texas) 16-year-old Avery Collins won the 400 IM in 4:14.03. That’s a two-second drop off her previous best time from Winter Juniors – West in December.
- Noah Hardy won the boys’ 11-12 100 yard free in 52.27. That’s his best time by 1.7 seconds; he has dropped 10 seconds in that race this season, including almost four since December.